Rain Rain Go Away
by hayduke
Summary: When a storm hits the gang is stuck at the beach house... but they're not alone!
1. Default Chapter

Rain. It washed down the window in front of Dr. Amanda Bentley. She could hardly make out the shape of a tree a few yards beyond the glass. The storm had hit hard and fast, taking the city by surprise. Amanda knew that the emergency room in Community General hospital would be frantic with injured people from the rain-slicked streets. She had been having a slow week in pathology, and hoped that she wasn't in for a sudden onslaught. If people could see what I see in one day in the path lab, they'd be more ten times more cautious on the road.  
  
Lt. Steve Sloan was also having a slow day. This kind of weather isn't even fit for criminals. Steve was sitting at his desk, ten minutes away from heading home. He'd spent most of his day shuffling pages, pretending to catch up on paper work. The only real work he'd finished was putting together an office hockey pool - five bucks in, winner gets dinner at Bob's. Even the Captain was signed up and spending today's lag time figuring out his player picks. When the last minute ticked by, Steve headed out into the rain. He had a long night of boredom ahead of him. Jesse was dropping by to go over the restaurant books with him.  
  
Dr. Mark Sloan yawned. He'd been working hard lately. A flu had been passing through the hospital, and Mark was taking up extra shifts for ill doctors. Given the added volume of patients since the storm hit, Mark had scarcely sat down in the last 15 hours. He was leaning against the reception desk in the ER. Yawning again, he nodded at Dr. Jesse Travis, who had caught his attention. Jesse fell pray to the contagious effect, and yawned as well. He had surprised Mark earlier by announcing that he liked the rainy weather. Jesse had then explained that once the storm passed on to the south, it would kick up some waves at his favorite surfing locations. Mark knew that Jesse was also happiest when he was busy at work. The influx of storm-related injuries, though unfortunate, was putting the young doctor in his element. Mark was about to sign out when his phone rang.  
  
"Hello?" "Hey dad." "Steve, how are things?" "Good dad, listen, I just stepped in and caught the news report, it looks like the storm is about to pick up the pace. Are you going to be finished there soon?" "I'm heading home now," assured Mark. Amanda stepped up beside Mark, and mouthed "Steve?", pointed at the phone. "Listen Steve, Amanda is here, she wants to talk to you. I'll see you at home soon. " said Mark, and he handed her the phone.  
  
"Hi, Steve how's my favorite Supercop?" "What do you want, Amanda?" "Well, if you want to be so direct, I have a few more things to wrap up here, and I was wondering if you could pick up CJ for me. I can drop by your place and get him in less than an hour." "I guess so. The storm is supposed to be picking up soon, so you be careful. Don't stay at the hospital too long." "You're the best. Bye" "Bye Amanda."  
  
By the time Amanda arrives to pick up CJ, the storm is in full force. The wind is merciless as she staggers into the Sloan's beach house. "Steve? Hello?" she calls, as she walks through the front door. "Amanda!" calls Mark, "We've been waiting for you. This weather is getting dangerous!" CJ runs to meet his mother and is met with a long hug." "Coffee anyone?" calls Steve from the kitchen. "Yes, Amanda, you must stay here until the storm settles a bit," adds Mark. The coffee is poured and the three friends settle in for a what should be a relaxing evening. 


	2. Chapter 2

Mark Sloan was telling CJ a story when the phone rang. Setting down his coffee mug, he went to the kitchen to answer it.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Mark, hi. It's Jesse."  
  
"Jess? I'm having trouble hearing you, are you on a cell phone?"  
  
"Yeah, Mark. I'm at Bob's, the phone here is out."  
  
"Sorry Jesse? You're where?"  
  
"At Bob's! Tell Steve I'm on my way. I'm going to close up. The power might go too," Jesse was now yelling into his phone.  
  
"Just stay where you are, Jesse! It's not safe for driving."  
  
"What?!?"  
  
"I said stay put! The roads are a mess out here! Jesse.. Jesse? Darn it! I hope he heard me. The phone must have died."  
  
"Don't worry Dad," Steve offered, "He's not an idiot."  
  
Jesse was halfway to the Sloan's house when he started to notice the roads getting worse. Dammit! It wasn't this bad near the hospital. When he came across the entrance to their subdivision, he began to realize his car was not going to make it to their driveway. Grabbing his duffle bag, he decided to hike the last stretch. Though the sidewalks were flooded, he could walk across the elevated lawns. I hope they have understanding neighbors. He muttered, as he stomped through a flower bed. Jesse was soaking wet from head to toe. The water, even on the highest ground he could get to, was nearly a foot deep. Two houses away, he was startled to find a woman sitting on the front steps of a two story house.  
  
"Hello there!" he called "Are you in need of assistance?"  
  
The 30-something woman raised her head to look at him, and he realized she had been crying.  
  
"My daughter.. She's out there somewhere!" cried the woman.  
  
Jesse could see that she was shaking, and trudged over to the steps to better evaluate her condition. "I'll find your daughter. But you need to get somewhere warm. Why don't you go inside."  
  
"I've lost my keys!" she cried.  
  
"Listen, can you see the blue house two doors down? That's my friends house. Just knock on the door, and they'll let you in ok? Tell them Jesse sent you. Just explain what's going on, ok?"  
  
"J-Jesse?"  
  
"yeah."  
  
"I'm Jennifer."  
  
"Hi Jennifer. Can you do what I said?" His question was met with a nod. "I'm going to look for your daughter."  
  
"She's wearing a black backpack, and a baseball hat. She went that way," Jennifer said, pointing.  
  
"OK. No problem" said Jesse, but it clearly was a problem. The woman had pointed at the top of the subdivision, where Jesse knew the water and mud was running deep on either side of the road.  
  
He helped Jennifer stand and watched her start towards the Sloan residence. He turned and began to trudge back up the street, sticking to as much high ground as he could find. Jesse couldn't imagine anyone out in weather like this, least of all a child. He hoped she had had the good sense to go to a neighbors house. Jesse's jacket was heavy with rainwater. His hair was plastered to his forehead. His shoes were full of water, and each step he took made a slushy suction sound. It seemed to take forever to reach the end of the street. He now stood on top of a concrete and brick median. Even with this point of elevation, He was pressing against a foot of water as it moved in the opposite direction. That's fine, he thought, go back out to sea. just please don't take me along.  
  
Jesse surveyed his surroundings. To his left, mud rivulets swept along the ditch. To his right, water coursed along with increasing intensity. The road was a high point in between. On his second look around, he noticed something. Far on his left, across the mud, was a brick wall with the name of the subdivision in large brass letters. There appeared to be a black bag hanging from the top corner. Instant alarm washed over the young doctor, followed by a surge of strength. He set out towards the sign wall.  
  
Progress was slow. Each step required Jesse to force his foot down in search of solid ground. It took him a considerable amount of time to progress the twenty yards or so to the wall. Jesse was physically exhausted now, and it took all his remaining strength to haul himself up the wall. He sat on the edge, his feet supported by the brass letters and looked closer at the bag. It was a large black backpack. Jesse began to search his surroundings frantically, hoping to glimpse the bag's owner. There was nothing but motion. Water, mud, and wind pressing around him. It was hopeless. From his perch on the wall, Jesse leaned out to grab the bag. He would at least retrieve it. The exhaustion, the weight of his soaked clothes, the wind, and the slick brass letters proved too much, though, and Jesse slipped. His head careened off the corner of the wall, and the mud rushed up to grab him. Jesse dropped out of sight. 


	3. Chapter 3

"Jesse!" screamed Steve, seeing his friend drop suddenly. He made his way towards the point where Jesse disappeared. It was extremely slow going. Steve began to worry he would be too late. Jesse was completely immersed in mud. Each step was a struggle, as the mud fought to swallow Steve's legs. It seemed like ages had passed when he arrived at the spot. Grasping a tree with one arm and one leg, Steve reached into the mud where he could make out Jesse's prostrate form. He grabbed frantically, but was unable to make contact. Nearly a minute of reaching finally put Steve's hand in contact with Jesse's jacket, and he pulled the smaller man's upper body out of the mud.  
  
The muddy form Steve dragged over to the street hardly resembled anything human. Steve held him up with one arm, and reached around to wipe the mud from Jesse's face.  
  
"Jesse, can you hear me?" yelled Steve. Jesse's face scrunched in response. Steve shook him to a supported standing position. Looking back down at his house, Steve began to worry he could not make it back carrying his friend. Jesse started to support some of his own weight, and Steve hurried to make as much distance as he could while Jesse was able to help. Half pushing, half holding the stumbling Jesse, Steve led his friend towards safety.  
  
They'd gone more than half the way when Jesse dropped to the ground exhausted.  
  
"No," said Steve, "Not yet." And he once again pulled the doctor to his feet and pushed him towards home. The ground was significantly drier near the Sloan residence, and Amanda and Mark came out to meet the two mud-men fumbling up the stairs.  
  
"What happened?" asked Amanda, helping to maneuver the boys inside.  
  
"He fell," Steve calmly told her, "in the mud."  
  
"I'd say so," she replied. "Jesse, are you ok?" Jesse was by this time coughing too much to respond.  
  
"I think he hit his head," said Steve.  
  
Mark helped set Jesse on the ground where he sat coughing and panting for several minutes. When he was finally able to speak, he weezed, "I got mud. up my nose."  
  
For the first time since Steve had seen Jesse's abandoned car and set out to find him, he smiled.  
  
Suddenly Jesse's face turned serious. "Jennifer! Is Jennifer ok? I couldn't find her daughter!"  
  
"What are you talking about, Jesse?" questioned Amanda. "Who's Jennifer?"  
  
"The woman. I. I sent her here, she was locked out." Jesse paused for a moment, and then better explained about meeting the woman.  
  
"I'm sorry, Jesse, no one came to the house," said Mark when Jesse had finished filling them in.  
  
"We have to go and find her! She was right out there!"  
  
"Jesse, we can't go outside again. Look at it out there. We barely got you here safely," spoke Steve.  
  
"I. but her daughter." started Jesse, searching his friends faces for help. "I promised." But he was too tired to protest anymore.  
  
"Steve, a hand here?" said Mark, motioning to pick Jesse up.  
  
"Yeah, let's get him upstairs and hose him off," said Steve, pulling his friend up by the arm. "God Jesse, you look like a hunchback, what is this?" he asked, tugging at the mud-covered backpack. No wonder you were so heavy."  
  
Jesse explained that the backpack belonged to the girl he had been searching for. He reluctantly let Amanda take off his shoes and coat while he spoke. Steve removed the pack.  
  
"Well," started Mark, "There's unfortunately nothing we can do until the storm lets up more. I'm sure this woman either found her way inside, or made it to dry ground. Maybe her daughter is at one of the neighbors. For now, Jesse, you need to get out of those clothes and take a warm shower. I'll have a look at your head when you're done."  
  
There was no questioning Mark, as Jesse, head down, dragged his aching body upstairs. Steve lent him dry, clean clothes. When Jesse and Steve had both cleaned up, everyone sat in the living room.  
  
"You must have been carrying around fifty pounds of mud on your clothes," commented Amanda, who had spent the time scraping the mud of of Steve and Jesse's stuff in the kitchen.  
  
"it felt like it." said Jesse. Mark was looking at the now purple welt on Jesse's forehead. Jesse winced as he prodded it. "I just wish there was something we could do to help Jennifer. I mean, that backpack looked like it had been thrown there. What could have happened to that little girl?"  
  
"Now, Jesse, I'm sure she just abandoned it when she found a safe place to wait out the storm. Both of those houses near where you found the bag are Block Parents" offered Mark.  
  
Steve, who had been silent spoke now from the floor, where he had been sitting with the black bag. "Or, it might not be a little girl's bag at all," he announced, pulling a semi-automatic handgun from the backpack.  
  
"Whoa!" exclaimed Jesse, "That's what I was carrying around? I was tossing that thing around and everything. Is it loaded?"  
  
"Sure is," replied Steve, ejecting the cartridge.  
  
"Look what the storm brought in," mused Amanda. 


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks for all the feedback. You folks are great. Yes, this is my first Fic. No, I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with this. I'm trying to be prompt posting, as I'm not one for suspense. Tends to be anticlimactic, no? -Kennedy (aka Kenn, aka Hayduke)  
  
  
  
Steve went and placed the weapon in his safe. The gun's serial numbers had been filed off, a violation of California gun ownership laws. For Steve, it was one less gun on the street, a victory no matter how it came about.  
  
When Steve returned to the living room, only his father was awake. Amanda had fallen asleep in a big armchair. CJ was nestled in the crook of her arm, gasping child snores with every breath. Jesse sat straight up on the couch, dead asleep. His head had fallen directly behind onto the couch back, arching his neck at a painful-looking angle. Mark approached Jesse silently with a pillow in hand. Sliding his arm behind Jesse's neck with fatherly skill, he placed the pillow between him and the couch. Jesse settled into the nicer position and drifted back off.  
  
Steve began circling the room, gathering mugs for the dishwasher. He was on his way to the kitchen when the lights went out.  
  
Mark, who had been reaching to turn off the reading lamp near Amanda, was surprised at the sudden dark. His hand dropped from reaching for the lamp and hung momentarily while he regained his composure.  
  
"Dad?" called Steve softly, "Are you ok?"  
  
"Yes Steve I'm fine, you?"  
  
"Fine dad. Just stay where you are, I'll find my way to you."  
  
Mark felt someone stumble, brushing against his side. "Steve?"  
  
"Just a second, dad," called Steve. As the words left his mouth, the lights came back on. Mark turned to see his son at the entryway to the kitchen, arms outstretched as though to feel for hazards. Steve dropped his hands.  
  
"Oh, good. Back to cleanup for me. Then I think I'll have a better look at that black bag," said Steve.  
  
"Good idea son. Go ahead and leave those dishes for me. I'm going to flick on a weather report while the power's ok."  
  
"Um, dad," started Steve, "Did I take the backpack downstairs with me to the safe?"  
  
Mark was busy playing with the remote control in his hand. "Sorry, Steve? The what downstairs?"  
  
"I just thought I'd left it right. Hey, that's up the street!" he exclaimed, jesturing at the footage on the weather news.  
  
"Wow," added Mark, "If that sweeps down the street, we're going to have a pretty terrible mess."  
  
"The good news is that they say it's easing up a bit," replied Steve, now fully engrossed in the report.  
  
"In any case, we're stuck here. Let's check that the guest room is all set for Amanda and CJ."  
  
"What about Jesse?"  
  
"I think he'll be fine where he is. We might have to get him a little more horizontal eventually, though."  
  
"Jeez, yeah. How do you suppose he sleeps like that?" chuckled Steve.  
  
"Son," replied Mark, "I've seen him sleep upright in a hospital elevator between floors. A couch is child's play. Anyway, It'll be easier to keep an eye on him there. He's got that bump, not to mention he choked up a fair bit of mud. He's probably got some mud and water in him still. I'll have to watch his breathing."  
  
"Mark?" came a whisper from across the room. Amanda was awake. "I'm going to put CJ down in the guest room, ok?"  
  
"Of course Amanda. I was just going to make sure everything was ready for you in there."  
  
"I'm sure it's fine, thanks Mark." She replied, hoisting CJ up and carrying him off.  
  
She had only been gone a moment when her scream startled Mark and Steve. 


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I would like to give you reviewers an option here. I can finish this in 2 more chapters, or I can take a slightly longer plot route, which should take 4 or 5. What do you think. Here's Chapter Five, a shorty. with another evil cliffhanger. I'm not really a mean person, I swear! -Kennedy aka Hayduke.  
  
  
  
  
  
Mark and Steve nearly trampled one another rushing to the source of the screaming. In the guest room stood a shaking Amanda. CJ was in her arms on the verge of crying. At Amanda's feet was a pool of blood.  
  
"Amanda! Are you hurt? Is CJ ok?" asked Mark. Amanda could only point towards the guest bathroom in response. Steve got to the bathroom door first. What he saw was a disaster area. The medicine cabinet hung open, it's contents strewn about. On the floor and sink, more blood, as well as bandages.  
  
"What the hell is going on here?" said Steve, utterly confused. "Jesse wasn't bleeding like this. Amanda, you're sure you and CJ are ok?"  
  
"Fine," she said, calmer now.  
  
"It appears we have a guest, Steve," offered Mark. He then explained how he thought he'd brushed against someone in the power outage.  
  
"But why would they stay hidden?" asked Amanda  
  
"I don't know, but I doubt our guest is just shy," commented Steve.  
  
Mark was absently rubbing his chin with his hand. "No, son, but it could be as simple as someone who's hurt and scared."  
  
"I know, dad, but somehow I think it's something more sinister than that. The bag, the gun. I bet the 'power outage' was just the breakers being switched. I don't know what's going on here, but it's not good."  
  
Amanda interjected at this, "And Jesse is all alone downstairs." she trailed off as they ran out of the room. "At least I hope he's alone," she added silently. 


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry it's been so long. not to worry, here's the next chapter!  
  
Thanks for the feedback. I will be doing the long version.  
  
Kenn.  
  
Back in the living room Jesse was still fast asleep. Steve couldn't believe his friend had slept through the commotion. He went over to the couch to make sure it was nothing more than sleep that had been keeping Jesse silent. Up close, Jesse looked peaceful and Steve was relieved to see the steady rise and fall of his chest.  
  
"Should we wake him up?" asked Amanda.  
  
"Yes," said Mark, "He has that bump on the head, and he did fall asleep pretty fast and deep. Besides, I fear his wrath if he finds out later that he missed out on some kind of excitement."  
  
"Good point, Mark," agreed Amanda. She'd seen Jesse falling down tired at the hospital, yet refusing to leave. He hated to miss out on anything, even work. Sometimes she could see a bit of that enthusiasm for life in CJ. It was an overwhelming source of pride for her that her son seemed to be adopting the best traits of these three men.  
  
"I'll give you the honor, Steve," smiled Mark, gesturing in Jesse's direction.  
  
Steve shook Jesse awake. Jesse opened his eyes and awoke with a start.  
  
"What's. going on?" He asked, taking in the looks on his friends faces. Amanda smiled at him. Mark was looking him over, a worried expression on his face. Steve looked thoughtful. "Guys?"  
  
Steve pushed Jesse towards one end of the couch and let himself drop onto the other. Amanda unfolded CJ's sleeping form onto an armchair and took up residence on another. Mark pulled a coffee table up to the couch and sat on it's edge, opposite Jesse. He proceeded to check over the young doctor.  
  
"Jesse," said Steve, "We have some explaining to do, followed by some searching."  
  
"OK." started Jesse. He was still not fully awake. He quickly checked himself, hoping to hide his confusion in front of the others.  
  
"Let's start with you. This woman you saw, was she hurt?" asked Mark, who had finished looking Jesse over and was now seated in a chair.  
  
"I don't think so.. No, she wasn't. I would have helped her if she was, but she was just scared."  
  
"And you saw her come to the beach house?" asked Steve.  
  
"Yeah. Well, no. Well, I saw her go towards the beach house."  
  
"And she told you to look for a girl and a backpack," added Amanda.  
  
"No, she told me to look for a girl. The girl had on a backpack, which didn't seem too important to finding her daughter, but. maybe she wasn't looking for her daughter."  
  
"Certainly asking you to find a little girl sounds better than 'Please mister, my gun is out in the rain. Could you go get it?'" said Steve.  
  
"Steve," warned Mark, "There could very well be a little girl out in this weather somewhere."  
  
"I don't know dad, if this woman really needed help, why didn't she come to the house? Why didn't her daughter show up either?"  
  
"Those are good questions, Steve, but you do remember what it was like out there, don't you?" asked Amanda. "Anyone out there would have had trouble making it down here."  
  
"True enough," admitted Steve.  
  
"Guys, we've been over this already. What happened now? Why all the questions?" Jesse interjected.  
  
"Well, Jesse," mark answered, "It seems someone, be it Jennifer or someone else, has found shelter from the storm here."  
  
Jesse was silent, trying to decide which one of his questions to put forth first. Before he could say anything, Steve spoke.  
  
"The power went out and dad ran into somebody, and the backpack has gone missing. Then we found a mess upstairs. It looks like whoever is here is bleeding."  
  
"Well, then we have to help them," said Jesse, "HELLO? Where are you?" He yelled.  
  
"Jess!" yelled Steve, trying to get Jesse to quiet down. His head was beginning to throb. "Don't you think we've tried that? Dad and Amanda don't think our visitor is hurt too badly, so they can come out anytime."  
  
"Then why. Oh.. You don't think the gun." "Why else would they take the backpack, unless they wanted the gun back?" said Steve. He was about to continue when the lights went out again. 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven. . .  
  
  
  
  
  
"All right," Steve said, the tone of his voice portraying frustration. "This is getting ridiculous. Dad, are there still flashlights in the kitchen drawer?"  
  
"Yes, Steve, can you find them for us?"  
  
"Sure, I think it's time we did some looking around," grumbled Steve. Before the lights went out, he could sense Amanda starting to worry, and wished that CJ and hadn't been at the house. It seemed they were all safe, but Steve sensed something was not right. This uninvited houseguest spelled trouble. Once he had the flashlights, he turned one on and passed the others to Mark, Amanda and Jesse.  
  
"Steve, I'm going to phone around to as many neighbors as I can think of. I just want to make sure everyone is accounted for and that no one needs any help. Maybe someone knows something about Jennifer," said Mark.  
  
"Amanda, you stay here too, with Dad and CJ. Jesse, you're with me," announced Steve. "We're going to take a look at the breaker box."  
  
As the two men headed off downstairs, Amanda quietly spoke her concerns to Mark. "You know Mark, I think things might be safer if we just all stuck together until the weather clears enough to get some kind of backup or something."  
  
"You try telling that to Steve," commented Mark. "The only thing he likes better than a good puzzle is solving it."  
  
Amanda nodded. She had witnessed Steve's stubbornness on several occasions. She often admired the way he met challenges head-on.  
  
"Besides," rationed Mark, "There's a chance that whomever is stumbling around here is in need of some help."  
  
"You're right Mark, but I just can't shake this uneasy feeling."  
  
  
  
  
  
Downstairs, Steve was feeling uneasy too. The breaker box was not only opened and all the switches turned off, but the whole thing was bashed up, making the quick fix of flipping the switches back on impossible.  
  
"I can't believe this," moaned Steve. "Could anything else possibly go wrong?"  
  
"Uh, Steve?" squeaked Jesse.  
  
"What, Jess. . ." started Steve, But before he could turn around, a heavy flashlight came down on the back of his skull. The darkness was instantaneous. 


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight  
  
  
  
Steve awoke slowly to find himself tied to a kitchen chair. A quick glance around showed that Mark and Jesse had also been restrained in the same fashion.  
  
"Are you ok Steve," asked Mark. Steve nodded.  
  
"Where's Amanda?" he spoke suddenly, the worry for his friend evident in his alarmed tone.  
  
"When Jesse started yelling, I made her and CJ run out to the truck. She's safe, Steve. She drove away."  
  
"But the weather!"  
  
"I have a feeling she's better off," commented Jesse who was sitting across from Steve. His shoulders were slumped and Steve could just make out the shape of a dark bruise on his face. Jesse's nose and lip were bleeding. Steve gasped.  
  
Seeing his friend's reaction, Jesse explained, "I yelled to warn everyone when you got hit. It wasn't appreciated."  
  
"Quiet, Jesse," warned Mark, "Here she comes."  
  
Steve's head was pounding as he wrenched against the ropes to see who 'she' was. A woman approached the prisoners. Her face was shrouded in a ski mask and her clothes were dark. She was carrying a large kitchen knife, and Steve could make out another blade under her shirt, threaded through her belt.  
  
"Jennifer, I presume?" said Steve.  
  
He woman laughed before replying. "Yes, I suppose that's me, your entertainment for this evening. Your woman friend seems to have made it out in that truck, so it seems time is of the essence, huh boys?" Jennifer placed her hands on Steve's shoulders and leaned into his ear. "I'm going to be needing my gun back, if you'd be so kind."  
  
"And if I won't get it for you?"  
  
"Well, your bloodied friend over there is as good as dead." At this the woman paused. The alarm that registered on her doomed captive's face was priceless. Chuckling, she continued, "He's seen my face, but the older gentleman . . . 'dad' I believe I heard you say? I can negotiate with his life."  
  
"So we're all hostages?"  
  
"Good for you Sherlock, but like I said, time is running out. I'd like that gun. I'd like to leave with all of my . . . evidence , if you will. But if you take much longer, I will kill you all."  
  
"Why do you want the gun so badly? You can pick up another just like it on the street in an hour," said Steve.  
  
"Let's just say my boss likes to have proof of clean work. Now, enough stalling. I'm untying you. You're going to take me to my gun." She untied one of Steve's wrists, all the while holding the knife against the back of his neck. "Slowly, now. You scare me, you die. You all die. I am deadly serious. If I don't have the gun and all my stuff, I will be terminated. It's you or me, and I'm liking my odds."  
  
As Steve and the woman made their way out of the kitchen, Jesse turned to Mark.  
  
"I'm going to describe as much as I can about Jennifer, so you can get her if . . . well, if things don't go my way."  
  
"Jesse, don't bother," replied Mark. "This woman is some kind of hired gun. I think she's already killed someone, probably at the house down the street. If she won't leave behind a gun or a pack, she won't leave any of us behind. We're all in the same boat here, I'm afraid."  
  
Jesse's head dropped and the two men sat in silence, waiting for whatever was going to happen next. 


End file.
